Jai Opetaia Reveals The Fight He Would Love to Make Happen

On October 12, Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) will meet for the undisputed light heavyweight on a stacked Riyadh season card. It’s a fight many in the boxing world have desired, and it’s finally happening. On the undercard, unbeaten cruiserweight king Jai Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs)will return to action as he defends his IBF title against Jack Massey. The Australian fighter has spoken to Boxing News and revealed a fight he would love to make.

Jai Opetaia Sets Sights on Future Bout with Dmitry Bivol

Opetaia Eager for Potential Showdown with Bivol

Opetaia was last seen on the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undercard when he unanimously defeated the tough Mairis Briedis, with the scorecards reading 117-111 and 116-112 x2. The New South Wales native has been linked with a unification fight with WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith, with the English fighter recently casting doubt on the fight record of Opetaia. It now appears that the Australian boxer is looking elsewhere.

A potential fight between Opetaia and Bivol is a fascinating prospect and one Turki Alalshikh has mentioned, and when asked about his thoughts on the potential, Opetaia was clear he wants to make the fight happen: “That’s a fight that I would love to happen,” the Australian fighter told Boxing News. 

He continued: “I respect Bivol, I would love to share the ring with him.”

Looking at the fight tactically, he said: “That chess match, that stylistic fight that people watch over and over again, they’re the fights that I grew up watching.”

Opetaia added: “To have a fight like that would just be huge.”

Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol Full Fight Card

• Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol, 12 rounds, WBC/WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight unification
• Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta, 12 rounds, middleweights
• Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke, rematch, 12 rounds, for Wardley’s British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
• Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey, 12 rounds, for Opetaia’s lineal/IBF cruiserweight title
• Ben Whittaker vs. Liam Cameron, 10 rounds, light heavyweights
• Skye Nicolson vs. Raven Chapman, 10 rounds, for Nicolson’s WBC women’s featherweight title
• Mohammed Alakel vs. Jesus Gonzalez, 4 or 6 rounds, lightweights

Stay with Big Fight Weekend for the build-up to Beterbiev vs. Bivol, including news and predictions.